Dare to Imagine

A few months ago, I began journaling again more regularly, thanks to a monthly wellness planner called Silk + Sonder. Part planner, tracker, and journal, it starts fresh each month with a different theme and promotes self-care and reflection. I dabbled with bullet journaling five years ago but spent way too much time trying to make it look how I wanted. This company takes the aesthetics off my hands and includes an app with a daily ritual by the company’s founder that helps keep me motivated.

As the first month of the new year, I was eager to start this new journal. The theme for January: “Imagination.” With my hot cup of coffee by my side and my new candle lit, I settled in for reflection and creativity while setting up this month’s potential. Today’s ritual sounded promising.

Daily Ritual

Today’s exercise wasn’t picking which moods to track, or setting up my monthly intentions, or a meditation on what 2022 could bring. Nope. Meha Agrawal, the company’s founder and daily ritual presenter, challenged us to use our imagination in a “fun exercise.”

Choose an object in your surroundings that you really love but don’t know much about and, in 50 words or less, create a story inspired by it. Whatever comes to mind. Origin story, super powers, go wild. Use your imagination!

I felt like I was back in grad school, being given a prompt and told to write. Due to my discomfort, I was tempted to sit this one out. Until Meha pointed out it that if I feel silly getting started, I’m doing it just right. Well, there you go. May as well give it a shot.

I paused the audio to give me more than the minute or two before Meha continued.

Object Inspiration

For this writer, the beginning is the worst part. Just because I have a jumping off point doesn’t mean it writes itself from there. I looked around, desperate for an object. They’re not in short supply in the North household – Christmas was a week ago and the remnants of our winter break fun are everywhere. I settled on the candle I lit to set the mood. A friend had recommended it earlier in December, and my youngest sister gifted it to me at Christmas.

Okay, I have my object. So write about it. Ugh. The writing flow still didn’t come. Until I remember it only had to be 50 words, and much like with writing haiku, the parameters got me motivated. I started. Stopped. Counted how many words I had and how many I needed still. They were both too many and too little to encapsulate my idea. But then it was good enough, and I pressed play to see what was next.

Now, whittle the essence of our story into 10 words or less. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence, Meha said. Just a summary of what we wrote first. I imagine for some of the participants, this part would be somewhat harder. Maybe it’s the editor in me, but I had it down to eight in a flash. Even better, I loved it and was proud enough to share with my husband.

Who in turn loved it and said I should share it on my blog. 

End Result

Frasier didn’t know what would happen when the wax ran out. Was his essence the glass jar, the wick, the wax? His name came from the scent of the tree, but what made him a candle? There was still plenty of wax, for now. But what about when it’s gone?

Existential crisis of a candle in its prime.